Bonaire, Is it worth the trip?

[ianr33]

Cont has direct flights out of Houston and Newark. If Delta goes through with plans they will have a direct flight out of Atlanta starting in Feb.
As far as I am concerned luggage is no more of a pain to/from Bonaire than any other international destination. Pain or no, it's still worth the effort to me.

We flew on American through San Jaun on a monday IIRC. Even though we had a 2 1/2 hour layover and the flight was only 1/3 rd full our luggage did not arrive. Apparently it happens a lot as they are catching up with the backlog of luggage from the weekend.

San Jaun is probably not the best routing to take

 

[vladimir]

For me, Bonaire was great in every respect, except for the diving. I found the reef to be incredibly homogeneous and basically pretty dull. Topside, it is probably my all time favorite place....very friendly people, natives and transplants alike. Seemed like just the right size community, not over-developed, but enough to be interesting. I loved every bit of it, but not for the diving, I was disappointed the whole time, and for the time and effort involved in getting there, it really wasn't worth it to me.

I agree with the "homogeneous" characterization. Pretty dull? Yes, compared to PNG, Komodo, Palau, Cocos, etc. In Bonaire, you have to be able to find excitement in a sailfin blenny's display, or a juvenile trunkfish, for example, and you have to be observant enough to find them. I can find something of interest on any healthy coral reef no matter how many times I've dived it. If you are comparing it to Caribbean diving, it is among the best (though not my favorite) and, as you indicate, it is a great total vacation package.

 

[Martha]

Bonaire is definitely worth it. I don't know what anyone would find boring. There was always something different to see, although in order to see a lot of things, you need to slow down and really look. My husband is into photography, so a lot of the time, we stay relatively shallow and just slowly look around. It's amazing the things you see when you just hang out and watch the interactions happening all around you. I just find it amazing. That's the great thing about Bonaire shore diving, you can go at your own pace and don't have to worry about anyone cutting your dive short.

We've always flown on the direct flight out of Houston and never had a problem with luggage. It's a great way to get to Bonaire.

 

[vladimir]

I am a photographer, and I think we photographers like repeating a dive more than sightseers might. You want to put the teleconverter on, or get a second chance at composing that almost-great shot, and you can often find your subjects pretty close to where you left them. So I don't mind doing the same dive over and over. As long as I have 10 days of vacation.

 

[snepdiver]

We stayed at Sand Dollar. It was great. Next time we might try Den Laman next door. They are newer and a little less expensive.

 

[under water]

I've just read about a small condo called Den Laman. Apparently it's located right next to the Sand Dollar diveshop/house reef. Sounds like exactly what I'm looking for, but I'll do more research to confirm.

We spent a week at Den Laman in March and are heading back there the first week in October. It has comfort, convenience and value. The dive shop is great and we never tired of the house reef, Bari, which just happens to have the highest fish count of any reef in the Caribbean. Probably part of the reason for that is the resident biologist Jerry, who works with the dive operation. We took a class with him and then went out for a dive on the reef in which we saw about 15 new fish including a frogfish and seahorses.
Den Laman doesn't have the 'group' feeling of the larger premises like Buddy's, Captain Don's etc, but it very very convenient for diving. You are as close as you can be to the their diving pier.
In March we stayed in one of the studios in the rear and did not notice the compressor as all. This time the studios were taken so we sprung for a oceanfront one bedroom
It is also very convenient to the ice cream store and the mini-market.
You are going to love Bonaire! Everyone does. Unless you want Cancunesque nightlife!

 

[DiverKKC]

Bonaire diving is definitely not boring. I just got back from a stay with Buddy Dive and the diving was phenomenal. The diversity of life and health of the corals is second to none.

The dives are not all the same. At the southern end, you will experience dives with a longer terrace before you hit the reefs; great areas for eagle rays, squid squadrons (saw 42 in a perfect line on the terrace of Alice in Wonderland). Many of these dives are also a double reef system, with a small terrace around 80-90 feet leading to a second reef. The fish life on the southern end is amazing; I was normally accompanied by a never-ending school of creole wrasse.

The dives on the northern end allow you to practically drop straight in on the reef. Oil slick leap was one of my favorites. Regardless, all of these sights are bursting with marine life. Loggerheads, hawksbills, longlure frogfish, morays and spotted eels, seahorses, and the like are found throughout the reef system.

Night diving is first-class. My night dives were on Buddy's reef or other nearby, centrally-located reefs. I was accompanied by very large tarpon on all of these dives (which frequently cruised by within arms reach). Octopus, green and spotted morays, large porcupine fish, lobster and the like can be expected.

Buddy Dive Resort was great. The drive-up tank refill is very diver-friendly. The staff was incredibly helpful, and the house reef is a good dive in itself. Our condo was about 75 feet from the ocean, very convenient and a great view.

Bonaire is more micro diving. You could spend almost an entire dive closely examining a 50 ft. square grid and still miss something. It's slow, observant diving. Perfect your buoyancy and closely examine the reefs, you'll be amazed what you can find if you pay attention.

The East Side of the island offers better chances to dive with some of the bigger pelagics. Look into Larry's Wild Side Diving. Conditions can get a little rough at times, but he'll take you out there.

Klein Bonaire is a small island across from Bonaire. Some great boat dives are done here.

You should also spend one day in Wahington Slagbai National Park. Some amazing scenery. The north end leads you to the sheef cliffs of fossilized coral and rough surf at the island's edge, and the interior is a desert-scrub habitat and equally beautiful. Birding is cool here, too. I got some nice pics of a Caracara (desert, hawk-sized raptor) which let me approach quite closely as it was perched on a cactus.

Believe me, give Bonaire a shot, you won't disappointed. You'll love it, below and above the water. Where else can you load your truck, drive around a beautiful island, chose one of 60 or so sites, and drop into a world-class reef system? It's 24 hour-a-day diving that you just can't beat.

 

[vladimir]

The diversity of life and health of the corals is second to none.

I mean no disrespect, but this statement just tells us you haven't dived in many places. Bonaire is a nice, healthy, Caribbean reef, better than most Caribbean reefs.

 

[DiverKKC]

I mean no disrespect, but this statement just tells us you haven't dived in many places. Bonaire is a nice, healthy, Caribbean reef, better than most Caribbean reefs.

My last 3 have been The Red Sea, Costa Rica, and Bonaire. I've done some quality diving. They all have something different to offer, but I enjoyed Bonaire just as much as the others. Maybe you hadn't noticed, but many world-travelled divers continue to go back year after year, and that's for a reason.

You don't like Bonaire? Cool. But you're the minority.

So, no disrespect, Vladimir, but you have no idea what you're talking about.

 

[vanessar]

Great place. Nice people. Great food. GREAT diving.

Vanessar